Page 25 of Wanted By You

I chuckle deeply as the light turns on, closing the fridge door. “He’s pretty big for a small dog, isn’t he?”

Cassidy rolls her eyes with a smile, grabbing some special labeled dog food bag off the counter. “Oh, yeah, he’s morbidly obese.” She giggles. “Dad used to feed him anything and everything he ate. And even now with being diabetic and on a diet, he’s still fat. We try to walk every day when it’s not too cold for him the last few years. If you’d believe it, he’s lost ten pounds.”

My jaw drops. “No way.” I point to Frankie. “He was ten pounds bigger than this?”

“Oh, yeah, and he steals food any chance he gets. He’s a damn kleptomaniac. It’s like his crack. But the biggest mystery has been how he gets on the counter. I still haven’t figured it out.”

I shake my head with a laugh, crouching down and petting Frankie as he rolls on his back for belly rubs. “How the hell does he get on the counter at this size and with these legs?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” She smiles. “I’ll get out of the shower, or come home from work to find him fatter and crying on the counter because he can’t get down. That’s why when the weather is nice, I leave him out for the day. But it’s hard because he doesn’t do well with the cold, so he gets to stay in a lot.”

“Why don’t you get him a crate for when you’re gone?”

“Nooo,” she coos, kneeling and petting his head. “I couldn’t do that to him. He’s always been so good, never makes a mess or chews anything. He’d end up crying his little heart out if I did that to him.”

Cassidy stands, gesturing to the stove. “I was going to make chicken alfredo tonight. You’re welcome to stay if you want. Since you won’t let me pay you for the fuses.”

Dammit.I stand. “I’d love to, but I can’t.” I hate the words even leaving my mouth. “My folks do a mandatory Sunday dinner every week.”

She smiles kindly. “That’s nice.”

“It can be.” I scratch my bearded chin. “I should probably get going actually.”

“Okay.” She follows me to the door and out onto the porch. “Thanks again for helping me today.”

I nod, going down the steps before I turn back to her. “If you don’t mind me asking, does your brother ever help you out around here? I know you said you installed that hot water tank yourself, but didn’t he help ya out with it?”

She sighs. “No. I do everything around here. Garrett’s more of a…come and go guest. I can’t even get him to take the trash out or mow the grass when I ask. So, yeah, I do it all.”

I can’t help but scowl at that. I take out my wallet and remove one of my business cards with my cell phone number on it, handing it to her. “If you ever need anything or have any trouble, you can call me.”

She takes the card, looks it over and back up to me with a small smile. “Thank you.”

Heading for my truck, Cassidy stands on the porch watching me as I leave. And I can’t help but grin like a maniac when I drive out of sight.

Did I just make right on the cup, fight,andget in to be her go-to when she needs help?

Because I sure as hell hope so.

Nine.

Cassidy

“He changed your fuses,”Alison repeats, helping me stock the display. “Is that some kind of euphemism for something sexual I haven’t heard about?”

I can’t help but laugh at that. “No, Alison, it means he helped me change myfusesfor the hot water tank when they blew. He also gave me his card and told me if I needed anything, to call him.”

“Oh, nowthatis hot,” Janice chimes in, leaning over the counter with a dreamy sigh. “There’s nothing sexier than a man who can fix things. And Butch can buildandfix.” She fans herself at the thought.

And she’s not wrong.

“I mean,sure, it’s kind of hot, but that doesn’t make up for Saturday night,” Alison deadpans, a heated scowl on her face. “He went after your brother rather than checking on you. Andbeing your voice of reason here, need I remind you how upset you were about that very fact.”

I sigh. “First of all, I don’t remember crying about that to you. Second, why would I be upset he didn’t check on me? We’re hardly even friends.”

Except…are we? The more I think about him and the time we’ve spent together over the last few weeks, how easy it’s been to be around him. And how, dare I say,goodI feel when I am with him, I suppose we are. Friends.

“Y’all are sounding prettyfriendlyto me if he’s changing your, quote:fuses,” Alison says, exaggerating air quotes with her fingers.

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